


N7 - Cerberus Servers

by Alcyonidae



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-01
Updated: 2015-06-01
Packaged: 2018-08-16 23:41:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8122120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alcyonidae/pseuds/Alcyonidae





	

The shuttle bumped across the turbulent air as it entered the planet’s atmosphere. There was a Cerberus base below them. Kaidan called up his omni-tool and checked over his armor, ensuring the integrity of each system. He didn’t want to admit it was nerves that had him tapping away on the orange display. That might make it true. He had completed what felt like hundreds of these missions. He had no reason for the lightness in his stomach. It was merely the steep descent of the shuttle. If he just keep saying it it might actually start to feel true.

Garrus was seated on the bench across from him, one heavily armored leg crossed over the other. A sniper rifle was in the Turian’s hands and he appeared to be making small modifications to it. The image was grounding. He had witnessed it before nearly every mission on the original Normandy. Garrus was a master of modifying weapons to bring out their potential and he refused to settle for anything but perfection. The small details of these memories suddenly came back; the wait for the decontamination chamber, the ship VI announcing their return, the debriefing with the team after each mission.

Kaidan continued to regard him as the shuttle battled against the strong winds, hoping to catch his eye. He would have previously called Garrus a close friend, but since his return to the ship, the Turian had been distant. Their interactions were brief and awkward. A tenseness of unspoken words hung between them. He couldn’t blame him. Garrus had become notably protective and defensive of Shepard, a product of countless missions shoulder to shoulder while bullets sought their flesh, no doubt. Kaidan could only imagine how his previous mistrusting actions against Shepard would seem. Even now, here in the confining walls of the shuttle, Garrus was unusually silent, his keen eyes and quick wit restrained. Kaidan wondered if he and Shepard had spoken tense words over his presence on the ship and on this mission. A part of him felt guilty for coming between them. Another part was just thankful to have been invited.

Shepard was standing, holding onto the bars on the roof of the shuttle for balance. She always stood on the way into a mission. Maybe it was nerves.

“We’re on our way to one of Cerberus’ forward bases. They’ve recently acquired an OSD full of classified Alliance troop data; locations, histories, maybe even family information. We need to get it back before they’re able to decrypt it.” She was speaking to the ceiling. Her eyes finally glanced to her companions as she continued. “This is a small base, but we have reason to believe that it’s heavily guarded. I want all precaution against us being flanked or surrounded.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Garrus only nodded once before standing. The shuttle landed with an audible thud. They had precious seconds to leave the craft before being picked up by Cerberus’ sensors. Kaidan immediately took his position on Shepard’s right, just a few steps behind. Garrus fell in on her left without direction. An abrasive wind pushed into them as soon as they stepped from the shuttle. Shepard staggered slightly before gaining her footing in the unforgiving wind. Even in the shadow of the tall nondescript building the winds battered against their armor. Kaidan could hear the sand and even small rocks pinging against his helmet. He held his assault rifle in one arm and lifted the other to try and shield his visor. It did little good to improve his visibility. He relied on following the few red lights glowing on the back of Shepard’s armor. How was she navigating in this gale?

With the pummeling debris the few feet they traveled felt like miles. This sand and storm reminded him too much of Mars. Eventually, Shepard stopped and stepped to the side. This close to the tall walls of the building Kaidan could now make out a door. The symbol in the center glowed red. Habit made him step up and drop to a knee, his omni-tool illuminating in the storming sand. His comrades did not question or direct the action. Within moments the red symbol flickered and changed to green.

Kaidan stood and pressed his back to the right side of the door, rifle at the ready. Garrus mirrored his actions on the left. Shepard stood in the center. She raised her arm to activate the door and then dropped into a crouch, her Carnifex pistol held ready. The door whisked open and the three advanced in as one.

Stepping inside of the Cerberus base traded the gale of sand and rock for a tempest of bullets. They had entered into a large hallway most likely used to load in heavy equipment or pallets of supplies. The Cerberus troops had obviously been ordered to hold this position at all costs. The area was prepared for battle. Various pieces of equipment and crates had been setup in defensive positions. The hallway was dim, but a few yards forward brighter lights could be seen opening up to a larger area.

They took their places. Shepard immediately ran forward and slid behind cover she created by ending the lives of the Cerberus troops that had previously occupied the space. He marveled at the grace of it. Garrus disappeared to find himself a safe perch to begin his hunt. How many Cerberus troops had been waiting for them? And how many more would they find once they pushed further into the building? Kaidan found himself a well-covered area and began to lay down suppressive fire with his rifle. He tossed in a mixture of Biotics when he could while keeping an eye on the locations of his comrades. Shepard’s earlier warning about being flanked echoed in his mind. It would be easy to become overrun in this kind of space.

Shepard was a fury of action, switching easily between handgun and melee. She was throwing and knocking around heavily armored men as if she were using Biotics. He kept out of her way, choosing his own grouping of troopers to take down, while still keeping her back in his line of site.

They progressed slowly, but eventually pushed their way in further. The hallway opened up to a larger space that appeared to be used for holding cargo. There were various crates and pallets, marked with symbols noting their destination and contents, stashed among walkways. A large crane in the center of the area held another load of pallets, paused in the middle of its descent to the warehouse floor. Kaidan’s boot crushed a cluster of shattered glass. He glanced up briefly and noticed some of the large domed lights had been shot out, causing the space to be abnormally dark. Cerberus must have known they had something important and were willing to go to lengths to keep it.

They paused in the mouth of the hallway to assess the enemy force no doubt waiting for them to step forward. Each indicated their intended direction with silent hand signals before jumping into another storm of gunfire.

Garrus concentrated on picking off the troops higher up and farther away. The familiar sound of his high powered rifle was a steady tempo marking out the music of their fight. Kaidan and Shepard dashed into the cacophony of battle back to back. She might step forward to use her omni-blade or sweep the feet from her enemy, but he could always feel her return to her defensive position behind him. They eventually came to safe cover and ducked behind it. The trio fell into their domestic routine of battle. Suddenly, the years distancing them apart dropped away. They covered each other easily. Each intrinsically knowing the pattern of when the other needed to reload or send off some tech or Biotic power. The nerves Kaidan had felt earlier were forgotten. They may have well never existed. This kind of unity was not forgotten.

Eventually, the sounds of battle lessened and they split apart to round up the last few soldiers left behind. Kaidan picked up a few spare thermal clips as he made his way back. He found Shepard kicking away the weapons of the fallen troops, lest they suddenly find their last strength and shoot them in the back. He removed his helmet, noticing she had already done the same, and hooked it to his belt.

“Nice work.” She nodded to them both, each still attempting to catch their breath. “Kaidan, can you get into that computer and find out where we need to be heading?”

He turned to the large computer console, most likely used to sort and route the cargo being held in the warehouse, and began finding his way around its systems. Shepard leaned back against an unused portion of the console, hands braced on its surface.

Garrus rounded the large computer bank, removing and stowing his helmet. “This is most likely a trap, isn’t it, Shepard?”

“Yeah.” She sighed and ran a hand back through her hair. It was already matted with sweat. “I’m sure there’s a hundred more guys waiting for us, a bunch of locked doors we’ll have to hack through, and hey, maybe some Geth will show up. There’s probably even a bomb waiting for us at the end.”

Garrus chuckled softly, his deep voice rumbling between them. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Kaidan smirked slightly, overhearing the exchange. Some of the tightness between them had slid away during the battle for their lives. He navigated through the computer while they caught their breath, forcing his way in at some points.

“Got it.” He tapped a few more keys and sent the nav points to their omni-tools. They could easily follow them to the location of the missing OSD. But what were all these extra folders? Something caught his eye as he was closing out of the system. Most of it looked like garbled information, but some of them actually opened. He browsed through a few while the others checked the directions on their omni-tools. Horror grew as he swiped past screen after screen of unsettling activity going on within the Cerberus base.

His captured dismay must have been evident. After a moment, Shepard called his name softly. “Kaidan?”

He shook his head and disconnected himself from the terminal. “Something’s going on here. There’s loads of information about genetics. I think this warehouse is supplying a larger operation.”

“A larger operation.” Garrus crossed his arms over his armored chest. “We’re here for the stolen Alliance troop data. Does it have anything to do with this larger operation?”

“I’m not sure. The schematics I downloaded say the majority of this place is devoted to storing servers operating very powerful supercomputers. It may be why they sent the data here to be cracked.”

“What about the genetic information you mentioned?” Shepard mirrored Garrus’ stance.

Kaidan shook his head. “I’m not sure. I’m not a scientist. It was all about mutations. Maybe they’re using the computers to predict or track different experiments.”

Shepard pushed away from the console. “Alright. Let’s be on the lookout for any more evidence of Cerberus’ genetic experiments. We’ll grab the stolen data we were sent here for and then let HQ know what else we’ve found. I’m not sticking around to clean this whole place out.”

She glanced down at her omni-tool a moment to check the direction before heading towards a door on the edge of the open warehouse. “This way.” The door was luckily already green and happily opened for them to pass through. More hallways waited for them. These were much narrower, designed for ordinary human traffic, and spotted with numerous doors.

Garrus paused to inspect one of the framed posters adorning the hallway. “Your plans for tomorrow depend on safety today.’” It pictured happy employees in tacky colored shirts smiling and busying themselves at desks. There was a Cerberus logo in the corner.

“Well, if that isn’t the picture of irony.” Kaidan smirked.

Some of the doors to offices were already propped open, ready to ambush them as they traveled by. Kaidan and Garrus walked nearly side by side Shepard down the hall. They stopped at each door, going through the military routine to flank each door and then rush in as one. Many of the small offices they entered turned out to be empty. It was obvious they had been abandoned in a hurry. Papers and coffee cups were scattered over desks and floors like leaves. Kaidan was glad for the lack of scientists and office workers, even if they were Cerberus scientists and office workers. He hated to kill people who were given a gun and forced to fight for their employer, even if it was to save his own life.

Kaidan stopped at one of the desks of the abandoned offices, noticing a blinking green light on one of the consoles. Most of the computers in the previous rooms had been either physically destroyed or wiped clean of their data. Curiously he flicked the terminal on and scanned over the open documents.

Shepard stepped beside him, watching him force his way into the more secure areas of the computer.

“Anything?”

He could only shake his head in answer and sigh. “I’m not sure. Something about a myostatin gene. Lots and lots of recorded genomes, but I can’t make any sense of what they’re for. Same with all these records of connective tissue and dermal bone DNA markers. I don’t know what they belong to or what they do. This is way over my head.” He turned the computer off again and turned to her. “But Shepard… some of these are labeled Reaper.”

She only nodded with no evidence of surprise. “Let’s hope their efforts have failed. I don’t want to meet what Cerberus has been cooking up in their labs.”

“We’ve got company.” Garrus fell back into the room and behind an overturned filing cabinet. Shepard and Kaidan ducked down behind the desk they were standing by. Several heavily armored troops pressed their way through the door. The small room was both an advantage and hindrance to them. They had the trio trapped, but their greater numbers forced them to work in a now heavily confined space.

Shepard flashed Kaidan a sudden quirked eyebrow and then reached up, yanking a soldier bodily over the surface of the desk and onto his back between them. Her omni-blade flashed a molten orange before it plummeted into the man’s neck. Kaidan returned the curious raised eyebrow before turning to grab himself a soldier who had foolishly come too close. As he reached for the collar of the man’s armor a bullet suddenly threw back the Cerberus emblazoned helmet, accompanied by a highly amused laugh. Kaidan smirked at Garrus and returned to firing on the enemy with his rifle.

They cleared the room and went about ensuring no Cerberus agents were left in the hallway to further ambush them.

“That was one less for you, Kaidan.” Shepard nudged his arm teasingly as she stepped past him.

“Are we counting now?” he replied, trying to sound incredulous.

She only grinned at him in response and then glanced at her omni-tool. “Should be this way.”

They continued to make a path through the turns of the hallway. On their left the walls became glass windows, opening up to laboratories and what appeared to be observation rooms. The cheery office motivational posters and safety reminders turned into warnings about chemicals and exposure to biological agents. The group stopped in front of one of the rooms, peering through the window in hollow dread. There was no furniture in the room. It was stark and clinical. The steel walls were deeply gouged, dented, and scratched. Even the thick glass had developed a spider web of cracks. The door sat open.

Garrus traced one of the deeper cracks in the glass with a talon. “Let’s just hope they accidentally left the door open after taking their genetically mutated pet outside for a walk.”

Shepard stared at the Turian for a moment before continuing on the direction indicated by their omni-tools. Down a short flight of stairs they found a room full of rows and rows of server banks. The black monoliths hummed silently, speaking no notice of the rogues sneaking through their territory. Kaidan glanced at the flickering of blue lights on some of the machines. What kind of data were they chewing through? What secrets were they sending back to the Illusive Man? He wished they could cut down the machines like the Cerberus troops. Anything to take back power from the cancerous organization.

They crept through the army of black boxes at a cautious pace. Computers needed no light, so only small bulbs on the floor illuminated their path. The machines towered far over their heads and were supplied from the ceiling by thick tubes and wires that resembled black arteries and veins. The effect was claustrophobic. Each row they approached seemed like it would be the one to unleash the enemies no doubt waiting to ambush them.

At the far end of the spacious area of sleeping giants they could see a room walled off by glass overlooking the sea of blinking blue lit computers. The light inside spilled into the darkened place they snuck through. A bulb inside flickered like a nervous insect at the end of its life. Shepard paused a moment to peer up into this place.

“That should be it up ahead.” She whispered to them. “It looks empty.”

“Let’s hope.” Kaidan replied and then followed her up the few steps. The door was unlocked. The room was thankfully as empty as they had thought. It had the same hastily abandoned appearance the ones before it had. The walls of the narrow space were lined with computer terminals of varying unknown purpose. Datapads, papers, and manuals littered the floor and keyboards. Several people had probably worked together here to maintain the server farm below them and route important processing power when needed. A knocked over coffee cup sent up tiny dancing sparks from some protesting electronic piece in the corner.

Kaidan brushed away an array of office debris and began exploring the computer systems. Cerberus had not planned for them to get this far. These terminals were open and friendly to him. “This is it. I can access everything from here. I’m going to make a copy of as much of their data as I can and then wipe it all. That should take care of their experiments and the Alliance data.”

Shepard stepped up beside him. She was watching the servers intently through the window as if they might come to life. “Good. Do it.”

Kaidan called up his omni-tool and linked it with the computer terminal. He keyed in a few remaining commands and then waited as the indicators spun and flashed, indicating an active download.

“Where is everyone? This place should be swarming.” Garrus nudged a discarded hat bearing the Cerberus logo with his foot. The sniper rifle hadn’t left his hands since they had landed.

“This is probably that trap you were looking forward to.” Shepard smirked at him, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Let’s hope they make it a good one.”

The symbols flashed red and Kaidan disconnected his omni-tool. He dug deeper into the systems and began a thorough cleanse of all the data. The Alliance soldier information had not yet been breached. They had made it in time. He worked quickly, but carefully. The tension from his comrades was heavy in the air. The trap was ready to be sprung. “Alright. I got all I could. The information is being purged. It’ll take a while, but I locked everything down well enough that by the time they crack it the damage will be done.”

“Good. Let’s get out of here.” Shepard led them from the room and through the server farm with the same slow caution they had used upon entering. The flickering lights and florescent bulbs from the control room were the only source of illumination. The shadows remained still. The pillars of computers continued to hum their perpetual song and did not awaken.

They crept up the stairs and into the maze of hallways again. The narrow passages appeared to be untouched since they had last passed through. Only the sounds of the ventilation ducts above them and their breathing interrupted the stillness. If they had not fought their way through fierce soldiers a short time ago Kaidan might have believed the place had been abandoned for some time.

Shepard stopped abruptly, holding a fist up to indicate they should do the same. Kaidan could suddenly feel why she had paused. The metal grating making up the floor below them was vibrating with periodic tremors. She waved a hand and they took up safe positions. Garrus fell back and Kaidan and Shepard crouched behind a group of crates marked with the stamp of an Erlenmeyer flask.

The vibrations came at faster intervals, but were no longer needed to mark the coming of some substantial thing. They could now hear the footsteps and angry growls. Rounding the corner a creature filled the hallway, spurred along by two Cerberus troops carrying long poles with electricity sparking at the ends. It roared and rumbled each time they prodded it along.

The creature was as tall as it was wide. It fit perfectly in the hallway. There would be no sneaking past it. It could easily turn and snatch up anyone who tried. Its hulking arms ended in long fingers marked by jagged claws at the end. Its body was covered in organic plates that overlapped and flexed together. The plates were a drab grey, the color of a battleship. The animal peered at them with red eyes filled with hatred and not much else. It was clear that this organism had been engineered with the purpose of grabbing onto enemies and crushing them or flinging them around. It was a living tank.

Shepard did not wait for the beast to make the first move. She quickly popped up from cover and began to fire at it. Kaidan joined her. He threw out a few Biotics, gritting his teeth against the pressure building up in his head. They needed to end this before he built up a full migraine. He aimed for what he thought might be the less armored areas of the creature. Its large size made for easy targeting. The Cerberus soldiers behind it made no move to draw weapons. They merely stood back and used the beast for cover.

Shepard cursed as she ducked back down at his side, replacing the thermal clip in her weapon as he covered her. “This isn’t working!” She had to yell over the sound of gunfire. “The plates on that thing are too strong.”

The beast roared in response and slammed its fists together, readying itself to rush forward and trample them. A high powered sniper shot to its head prevented its maddened attack, but did no further damage.

Shepard stowed her weapon and activated her omni-blade with a few taps, checking its integrity. “I think I saw a weakness when it raised up like that. The two plates on its chest don’t quite overlap all the way. Cover me.”

She slid lithely over the crates without waiting for him to respond, ducking low under the cover fire. Kaidan switched to firing at the monster's head to help blind it from seeing her approach. He waited until he knew Garrus could maintain the distraction before switching out his ammo and extending himself to toss a barrier over Shepard, protecting her from any stray bullets ricocheting off of the creature’s plates.

The monstrosity roared in anger, raising mammoth hands to shield its eyes from the projectiles. It staggered back a step, but did not retreat. It was working. Kaidan kept up the pressure as Shepard closed the distance between them. Aiming for the beast’s head kept it from seeing her until it was too late. With a savage yell she unfurled the omni-blade and jabbed it deep between the two plates exposed by the creatures lifted arms. It thundered in pain and anger, the sound so loud it seemed to vibrate off the walls and rattle Kaidan’s head even further than the taxing of his Biotics had. A gush of dark amber blood oozed from around the wound.

Kaidan glanced at Shepard in time to see her triumphant grin turn to an expression of panic. She yanked back on the omni-blade, but as the monster sagged in defeat the two plates it had slid between now clamped down on the blade, trapping it in place. Time seemed to suddenly creep. Bolts of blue haze surrounded Kaidan. He launched himself out of cover, but the distance between them was too great to cover in time.

The creature howled and brought its lumbering arm around to thrust Shepard away. The force snapped the omni-blade and slammed her back into the steel wall of the hallway like a toy thrown by an insolent child. It rounded on her then, seeming overjoyed to have found accessible prey. A colossal fist reared back, focused on the defenseless Shepard now crumpled at its feet. A sharp metallic ping resounded off of the creature's head, lurching it off balance and provoking another shattering bellow from its lungs. Kaidan pulled to a halt in front of the unmoving commander and planted his feet firmly, drawing in considerable power. The cerulean mist encompassing him crackled. With a brutal yell he lashed out. A Biotic force swept across the expanse. The creature was hurdled back to roll heavily into its former guards, coming to rest atop them with an audible grunt. It took one last great lumbering breath and was still. The orange blood continued its slow seep and created a garish pool beneath it.

“Kaidan.” He snapped around at Garrus’ call, still high on the adrenalin coursing through him. The blue mirage outlining his body dissipated immediately. Shepard.

Garrus was kneeling beside her still form, a hand on her shoulder. She had slid down the wall after the impact and remained in a slumped, seated position. Her head lolled to the side unsupported, eyes closed. The building had returned to its former silence.

Kaidan reached her in quick strides and knelt beside her. Garrus stood, stepping back out of the way. He kept his gun ready in his hands and turned to keep watch, ready for any enemies that might try to take this moment of weakness as an opportunity to ambush.

A few thin cracks stretched across the chest plate of her armor. One of the red and white embellished shoulder guards had tumbled free of its bindings and lay to the side. Just how hard had she been hit? Kaidan forced his racing thoughts and emotions back. Keep calm. He had to focus on his medic training right now, nothing else. First assess the damage, then worry about how to deal with it. He checked the back of her head, gently moving his fingers through her hair and was relieved when they came back free of blood. No head wound was a good start. He brought up his left arm and activated his omni-tool. The medical monitoring systems attached to each of their armor emerged from the orange glow. He waved the device over her fallen form, running a scan. Each result popped up on the display as it finished. The biological scans came up one by one with a green check mark. No broken bones, no hemorrhaging, possible concussion but, nothing worse. The scan of her armor came back next with several angry warnings flashing in red. It appeared her suit had taken the brunt of the damage. Most of its systems were offline or not reporting in at all.

Kaidan jerked his eyes from the information at the sudden ragged gasp that came from her lips. She pulled her head up slowly, blinking unfocused eyes. He watched her closely in concern. She lifted a hand to clasp at her chest, struggling to draw in the next breath. Each small inhalation seemed to come at a painful price. The hazy expression in her eyes swiftly turned to panic. He grabbed her upper arms to steady her, trying to keep his growing alarm from showing. His thoughts went back to the data from the medical scans. They had all came back green. There was no reason for her to be in such distress. He recalled the horrifying moment when the beast had brushed her away like a fly. The force at which she had hit the wall must have knocked the air from her lungs. Now, a confused and temporarily paralyzed diaphragm muscle fought against her, unsure of how to restart the normal inhaling and exhaling of her lungs.

“Easy, Shepard. Just try to breathe normally. It’ll be alright in a moment.”

She reached out and clasped onto his arm. The little gulps of oxygen she could get came in pitiful wheezes. He was struck by the intense panic and terror over taking her as she fought for each shallow breath. He wasn’t sure he had ever seen Shepard this overwhelmed. The hand clutching his arm was shaking. She wasn’t looking at him. She was staring out over his shoulder, her eyes distant, pupils wide with fear. Her other arm lifted slowly and attempted to reach for something behind her.

Realization hit Kaidan with a force strong enough to make him draw in a sharp breath. His eyes widened at the sudden understanding and he gripped her arms tighter, his voice thick with emotion. “Oh, sweetheart.” Shepard wasn’t there with him. She was drifting alone through the cold grasp of space above that frigid planet. The Normandy was merely fragments fluttering past her. She was attempting to reach for the traitorous breach in her suit that was leaking precious oxygen to the greedy stars. Her eyes reflected the dread and terror of attempting to breathe in a helmet that no longer had the means to provide anything but cold emptiness. She was reliving her last few moments alive and all he could do was watch.

Kaidan fumbled at the clasps on the gloves of his armor and ripped them away. He carefully lifted her chin and leaned closer, trying to shift her focus to him instead of the memories possessing her. She was so pale. “Shepard..” he called out to her, trying to break through the enthrallment. “Look at me. You’re safe.” He reached out to gently brush back the tousled hair from her forehead. A few more desperate gasps and she seemed to win the fight against her lungs. Her breathing became less frantic. Her eyes slowly cleared and fixated on his for a moment. He watched them widen in shock and realization and then slip into shame. She looked away. It tore at him; that she would feel such humiliation for something that was so far out of her control. But he knew better than to try and mollify her pride. Shepard was a champion at controlling her emotions. This sort of lapse, in front of her closest crew members, would be something she would rather not address and he would respect that. He pulled back to give her room to recover herself, sitting back on his heels and calling up his omni-tool. The Normandy needed to be notified of their impending pickup. He focused on the task to give her a bit of privacy to collect herself, but kept watch on her in his peripheral vision.

“Thanks..” she whispered after a moment, her voice soft. He glanced up and gave her a small, reassuring smile in response. The orange terminal projected on his arm was dismissed. The Normandy would send out the shuttle to wait for them. She slowly picked up the shoulder piece that had fallen from her armor and attempted to jam it back in place. It appeared it would stay on temporarily until it could be resealed.

Kaidan stood and offered her his hand. She looked up at him, seeming to regard him and the offer. There was a weariness in her eyes. What was she considering? Or maybe, what was she remembering? This action had played out before. She finally reached out and allowed him to pull her up onto her feet. A few more bits of armor clattered to the floor, small enough to be forgotten.

“Normandy’s sending the shuttle out, Commander.” He was returning things to business, letting her take back on the familiar, comforting mantle of leadership. She nodded and seemed to draw herself back up to her full height, unconsciously straightening her back.

“Okay, let’s get out there to meet it.”

Garrus turned back to join them. He seemed to watch Shepard for a moment, his alien face taut and unreadable. Some sort of decision was finally made and he dropped his arm across her shoulders fondly, gesturing to the end of the hallway where the behemoth lay still. “Shepard, I’m afraid that big guy still only counts as one.”

She looked up at him and laughed. It was light and cautious, but genuine. She nudged the Turian with her elbow lightly. The last of the tension in her seemed to drain away. “No way. He was worth at least three.”


End file.
